Metier is in control at Lingfield
Metier is in control at Lingfield

Lingfield Friday review: Metier shines for Harry Fry


A review of the action from Friday's meeting at Lingfield where Metier was an impressive winner for Harry Fry.

Fry joy as Metier powers to victory

Metier made all the running to land the inaugural Sovereign Handicap Hurdle, the feature £100,000 race on the first day of the Winter Million at Lingfield.

Sean Bowen rarely had a moment’s concern aboard the Harry Fry-trained six-year-old, who relished the heavy conditions, galloping his 11 rivals into the ground.

Metier (11/4 favourite) had won the Grade One Tolworth Hurdle as a novice and has always been held in high regard by his trainer, but he had flopped on his seasonal return at Sandown.

Though fourth in the Betfair Exchange Trophy at Ascot last month, he still had a few questions to answer, but left no doubt this time, getting into a good rhythm and fending off all-comers.

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In the end he had a comfortable length and a quarter to spare over Gowel Road (17-2), with Carrarea (3/1) briefly flattering between the last two flights before dropping a further five and a half lengths back in third.

Fry said: “That was the real Metier. He just loves this ground and we knew the conditions would suit him. This was the plan. He ran a good race at Ascot on good to soft ground. Sean was great there. He went his own tempo and he just loves that ground. We decided to ride him a little differently this season.

“He went a good, even gallop and kept going. I’m delighted to see him back in the winner’s enclosure. Sean said he wasn’t doing masses after the last.”

Metier had been dropped 3lb by the handicapper after his previous outing, a fact not lost on Fry.

He added: “To be fair, the handicapper gave us a serious chance and we’ll be looking for soft to heavy ground next time and might go up in trip on better ground.”

The prize money had attracted a competitive field and with two winners on the card, Fry was naturally a happy handler.

“The Winter Million is a new initiative with great prize-money. We’ve had two winners and won three times the amount we won for winning a Grade One Tolworth last season. It’s a great initiative and if it’s an annual event, you can count on him being here,” added Fry.

“He is in the Betfair Hurdle at Newbury, but we will have to look at the ground, as he loves it like this.”

Ben back to winning ways

Top Ville Ben returned to winning ways when making every yard of the running to win the Cazoo Hurdle.

A classy chaser at his best, he won the Rowland Meyrick Chase at Wetherby back in 2019 but having run in the Cotswold Chase after that, he was then off the track for 18 months with an injury.

He made his comeback in a Grade Two in France but the style of racing and fences did not suit him at Auteuil and he was pulled up.

Since then he has finished down the field when outclassed in the Charlie Hall Chase, but he was still travelling well when falling on the second circuit in the Becher Chase.

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A fine third in the Rowland Meyrick under a big weight on Boxing Day, he was having his first run over British hurdles since April 2018 but appeared to love the experience.

Allowed to set steady fractions, Alain Cawley, riding for Phil Kirby, lobbed around on the first circuit before quickening the tempo going down the back straight.

That was where the favourite On The Blind Side began to struggle, but both the outsider Dan McGrue and Emitom were still in touching distance.

Once Cawley asked his mount for more, though, Top Ville Ben (6-1) pricked his ears and went clear to win by two and three-quarter lengths.

Neil Hassall, co-owner, said: “It is his ground, isn’t it? He has shown it in the past but getting the ground like it is today isn’t always easy.

Top Ville Ben - back to winning ways

“It was a great decision and a brave decision by Phil to go back hurdling. He is a funny horse – he can trip over two barrels on the wrong day as he has shown. I don’t think it was as silly an idea as it looked. They put on great prize money, so why not?

“Truthfully, we would like to go to the Grand National with him. We thought, in the Becher, when he fell, he was loving it. He forgets to think where he is going. He has done it over hurdles at Haydock. He fell at Cheltenham in the RSA, he fell over in the Becher. He will fall over two barrels on the wrong day and jump over a 10-foot fence on a good day. That’s him.

“Whether we get the ground in the National, who knows. He will probably have one more run between now and then, but that’s Phil’s call.

“He might run at Doncaster in the Grimthorpe at the end of February.”

Love blooms in opener

Love Envoi maintained her unbeaten record with victory in the Winter Million Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle at Lingfield.

Winner of an Irish bumper for Sean Doyle, the six-year-old was bought by recently-retired jockey Jerry McGrath for £38,000 in March and joined the Noel Fehily Racing Club, to be trained by Harry Fry.

Following straightforward wins at Warwick and Leicester, this represented a step up in class with several nice prospects lining up.

One of those, Rainyday Woman, was pulled up at halfway, but Nurse Susan and Mayhem Mya, a winner at Chepstow earlier this week, tracked her into the straight.

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Jonathan Burke had given his mare a canny ride, though, and saved plenty, with Love Envoi (11-2) relishing the testing ground and keeping on for a two-and-a-half-length win, leaving Fry eyeing a trip to Sandown next month.

He said: “She made an error early on, but she was superb over the last two and that won the day in the end.

“She loved this (heavy) ground and it is a big asset. She just goes through it with ease. She came back in trip today and it wasn’t a concern, although she had not tried it before, but the ground brought her stamina into play.

“She liked it, whereas others would not necessarily. She is a fair size and she would probably always want a bit of easy ground.

“She will now go to Sandown for the Grade Two Jane Seymour Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle over two miles and three furlongs on February 17.”

Fontaine continues Williams' fine run

Venetia Williams continued her excellent recent run when Fontaine Collonges made a mockery of a handicap mark of 122 in the Winter Million EBF Mares’ Novices’ Handicap Chase.

Never far from the pace under Charlie Deutsch, she found herself in front early in the straight and the 5/2 favourite came home 10 lengths clear of Wouldubewell.

Williams said: “I am very pleased with the way she ran to the line and pleased also with her jumping, as she was being a little bit careful and you’d sooner that then careless.

“She was a little bit careful in her earlier races, but better that way and gradually pick up pace over obstacles. We schooled her the middle of last week and the first time she was really on it, she was quick and forward, and I thought, ‘yes, that’ll do. No more now’.”

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Williams and Deutsch quickly doubled up when Frero Banbou (9/4 favourite) reeled in long-time leader Eclair D’Ainay in the racehorselotto.com Handicap Chase.

Williams said: “I’m really pleased with that. It was Charlie’s idea after last time to take his time a bit more. We talked about trying to change things slightly in order to get his head in front.

“One of the options was to step him up in trip but we felt that a lack of pace wasn’t a problem, so it was his idea to ride him a little differently.”

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Cheltenham date for Fantastikas

Nigel Twiston-Davies looks set to target the National Hunt Chase at the Cheltenham Festival with Fantastikas, who landed the weatherbys nhstallions.co.uk Novices’ Chase after a nail-biting finish.

The 5-2 chance looked to have the near three-mile event in the bag when jumping clear at the last, only for Queenohearts to get within a short-head of the Sam Twiston-Davies ridden winner.

“I thought we were beaten,” said the winning trainer. “He is a good boy. That was very good. He is in the National Hunt Chase at Cheltenham and in the three-mile novice chase, but he looks like he is a right stayer, so the National Hunt will probably be the one for him. It’s very exciting.

“We have made a thing of milking the money and he has won a lot of money by not winning. He won five grand here, was second at Doncaster and won nine grand, he was third at Cheltenham and won seven grand, so he has done all right. If horses pay their way, that’s all that matters.”

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